Smart Green ASEAN Cities presented as part of the EU-ASEAN green partnership

The European Commission’s Executive Vice-President for the Green Deal, Mr Frans Timmermans, announced today (19/10) the start of a new EU-funded “Smart Green ASEAN Cities” programme, following his meeting with the ASEAN Secretary-General, Dato Lim Jock Hoi, at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta. The programme will support up to 10 ASEAN cities to exchange best practices among them and with European cities as part of a stronger EU-ASEAN green partnership.

Mr Frans Timmermans stated: “I am a strong believer in EU-ASEAN cooperation. The Smart Green ASEAN Cities programme is very dear to me: It is important that cities, which face huge challenges, get the opportunity to also find solutions. The sustainability of our cities is based on the possibility to change the energy mix, to change the way public transport is organised, and to improve rapidly waste treatment and waste management.”

ASEAN cities are currently home to over 300 million people, and in the next 15 years, another 100 million people are expected to live in urban areas. To improve the quality of life for citizens, Smart Green ASEAN Cities will promote more sustainable urbanisation while reducing environmental and carbon footprints. It will support ASEAN member states to anticipate the substantial pressure from the high urbanisation rates by focusing on green and smart solutions through digitalisation and the use of technologies. 

The approximately €5 million grant under Smart Green ASEAN Cities is part of the EU-ASEAN green partnership, which also addresses forest governance, biodiversity conservation and management of protected areas, sustainable use of peat lands, support to farmers’ organisations, haze mitigation and emergency response mechanisms.

The Smart Green ASEAN Cities programme aims at synergising with other ongoing initiatives in ASEAN such as the ASEAN Initiative on Environmentally Sustainable Cities, the ASEAN Smart Cities Network, the ASEAN Sustainable Urbanisation Strategy, and the EU-supported SMART CHANGE project, which facilitates the cooperation between Jakarta, Bangkok and Berlin.

During the meeting with the ASEAN Secretary General, the Executive Vice-President discussed the needs to launch a clean energy strategy, to step up financial support and to set up an EU-supported ASEAN Platform on Circular Economy. Executive Vice-President Timmermans also conveyed that the EU looks forward to holding the first ASEAN-EU Special Ministerial Meeting on Environment and Climate Change.

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